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SPEECH 


I 


HON. JOHN 



LETCHER, OF VIRGINIA 


ON THE 


RESOLUTION REPORTED BY THE COMMITTEE OF ELECTIONS IN THE CON¬ 
TESTED-ELECTION CASE FROM KANSAS TERRITORY. . 



IN THE PIOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 13, 1856. 


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PRINTED AT THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 

1856. 



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KANSAS CONTESfED ELECTION 



Mr, LETCHER said: 

Mr. Speaker: I do not propose to occupy much 
time; but, as I have a fixed and settled opinion in 
regard to this matter, I desire to state frankly the 
reasons upon which I mean to rest my vote. The 
first question to be looked at 'here, and to be in¬ 
quired into, is the fact, whether Kansas Territory 
is entitled to a Delegate upon this floor? 

Now, sir, I put it to the chairman of the Com¬ 
mittee of Elections to say whether that Territory 
is entitled to a Delegate in this House? As the 
gentleinan is silent, 1 take it for granted that he 
admits the fact. If so entitled, why so entitled? 
Is it not by virtue of the act of Congress organ¬ 
izing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska 
by which she can undertake to come here and 
claim the right for a Delegate to a seat amongst 
us? There is no other ground by which she can 
claim it, except the action of the two Houses of 
Congress, approved by the President of the United 
States; thus giving to that action the sanction 
and solemnity of law. Then, sir, if she is en¬ 
titled to a Delegate, she is entitled to it under the 
law of the land. That law is clear, express, and 
unequivocal in its terms, and it makes provision 
for the election of a Delegate to Congress only 
until such time as a Territorial Legislature shall 
convene, and pass a general election law, pre¬ 
scribing the terms and conditions upon which 
future elections for a Delegate to Congress, and 
for members to the Territorial Legislature, shall 
be conducted and decided. Now, sir, under this 
original law—this law of Congress oi’ganizing 
the Territory, an election was held in Kansasy and 
General Whitfield came here as a Delegate, took 
his seat in the last Congress, and served out the 
remainder of that Congress upon this floor, 
unobjected to by any one. 

And this brings me to the proposition laid 
down by the gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Wakeman] yesterday, to which I desire to call 
the particular attention of the House for a mo¬ 
ment. The gentleman called attention to the de¬ 
cision in 7th Eloward’s Supreme Court reports, 
in regard to the controversy in Rhode Island, 


growing out of the election of Governor Dorr. 
From the case of Luther vs. Borden and others, 
therein reported, he read, amongst other passages, 
the following from Chief Justice Taney’s opinion: 

“ And when the Senators and Representatives of a State 
are admitted into the councils of the Union, the autliority 
of the Goveniment under wliich they are appointed, as 
well as its repviblican character, is recognized Inj tke proper 
constitutional authority; and its decision is binding oa 
every department of the Government, atid could not be 
questiojied in a judicial tribunal.” 

This law, applicable to States, is also apppli- 
cable to Territories, and I rely upon it for the pur¬ 
pose of showing that the action of this House in 
receiving General Whitfield into the last Con¬ 
gress, recognized the obligation and binding force 
of the act organizing the Territory of Kansas, 
and the government thereby established. Having 
recognized him, without objection, even by the 
chairman of this Committee of Elections, [Mr. 
Washburn,] who was then upon the floor as a 
member of the last /Or Thirty-Third Congress, 
and entitled to raise the objection that General 
Whitfield was improperly returned, and having 
raised no objection then, he is now concluded 
from going behind the election, or interposing an 
objection to the law under which he was returned. 
It w'as valid, in his opinion, in the last or Thirty- 
Third Congress;a,nd I submit that he cannot now 
question its binding force in the present Congress. 

Mr. WAKEMAN, (interrupting.) I was not 
present when the Delegate from the Ten-itory of 
Kansas was sworn in; but I am informed that the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Grow,] at 
the time General AVhitfield approached your desk 
to have the oath administered to him, said he 
should raise the question of the right of the gen¬ 
tleman from Kansas to be sworn in as a mbmbcr 
of this body, and to enter upon his duties as 
such; that he would waive the question then,but 
that, if he was swoim in, it should be without 
prejudice to th'e right to raise the question there¬ 
after. 

Mr. LETCtlER. The gentleman has started 
olF upon the wrong track. I am not talking 





4 


about tlie last election of General Whitfield as a 
Deleg:ate; I am talking about the first election 
of Whitfield, when he first came here, and when, 
without objection from any one, he served out the 
balance of the last or Thirty-Third Congress; to 
the election which took place under the act organ¬ 
izing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. 
The President, therefore, under the decision which 
has been referred to, was right in recognizing the 
territorial government now existing in Kansas. 
He could recognize no other government there. 

And I wish to call the attention of the House 
to another matter in that connection. Where 
was the Governor when the first election was held 
in Kansas Territory, a year or more ago, which 
sent Whitfield to this House ? This identical man, 
Andrew H. Reeder, was then acting as Governor 
of Kansas. This same Governor, Andrew H. 
Reeder, gare the commission to John W. Whitfield 
under which he claimed, was sworn in, and held 
his seat here in the first instance, without a word 
of objection, even from the chairman of the Com¬ 
mittee of Elections loho raises the question now. 
Now, sir, if the election was improper—if it was 
vitiated, in any way, by illegality of any sort— 
why did Reeder give to Whitfield the certificate 
under which he came here, and under which he 
took his seat in this House without objection 
from any one i A number of the gentlemen on 
the other side of the House were here then; but 
it never entered the head of either of them, that 
Whitfield was illegally elected, or that he was 
not entitled to a seat as a Delegate from one of 
the duly-organized Territories. The law had 
been regularly passed—was everywhere recog¬ 
nized as a law of the land; and these Massachu¬ 
setts emigrants even claimed protection under 
it, and demanded that its provisions should be 
enforced for their benefit. 

It seems to me that the course which gentle¬ 
men have adopted here is calqulatcd rather to 
complicate this matter than to relieve it from 
embarrassment. "What is the state of . facts 
*' Whitfield is here in his seat as the Delegate 
from the Territory of Kansas, with the commis¬ 
sion from the Governor of that Territory in a,ll 
respects in accordance, with the law, and this 
House has recognized its legality and validity. 

How comes Mr. Reeder here i He comes here 
in the character of ti contestant, asking to oust 
Mr. Whitfield from his seat, and claiming that 
he is legally entitled to it. AVell now, sir, if the 
committee had undertaken to decide, in the first 
instance, whether. P>.eeder was. eligible to a seat 
on this floor, whether he was a party who could 
occupy the position, and whether he was entitled 
to the privileges attaching to a contestant, and if 
they had disposed of that question, would they 
not have simplified the matter very much.^ And 
v/ould they not have relieved it of a great many 
of the difficulties which }iow surround it.^ Un¬ 
questionably they would; and it becomes them to 
explain to the House why they have not adopted 
this plain and simple course of action. 

Strange as it may appear to some of the gen¬ 
tlemen on the other .side of the House, I deny that 
Mr. Reeder is eligible to a seat in this House as 
a Delegate from the Territory of Kansas; and I 
shall endeavor to make that appear. When Mr. 
Reeder v/ent to the Territory of Kansas, he went 
there irx the capacity of its Governor. {le went 


there to perform a specific duty, by virtue of the 
agency so conferred upon him. Who accom¬ 
panied him when he went to that Territory in the 
first instance ? If I am correctly advised, and if 
the history of the time is to be relied upon, he 
was accompanied by Mr. Flenniken, who set up 
as a candidate for Congress on the Free-Soil side 
against the present sitting member. Did Mr. 
Flenniken go there to become a citizen of that 
Territoiy On the contrary, so far from it, are 
not the facts growing out of his going to that 
Territory and his returning, conclusive evidence 
that he never went there with an intention of be¬ 
coming a citizen, unless the people of that Terri¬ 
tory should take him up and better his fortunes by 
sending him as a Delegate to this body So soon 
as that election was over, Mr. Flenniken returned 
to the State of Pennsylvania for the purpose of 
prosecutinghisprofession. He had never changed 
his domicile. He never went to Kansas with an 
intention of remaining. That intention, what¬ 
ever it was, was an intention depending upon a 
contingency—whether Governor Reeder and him¬ 
self, by their joint influence, could send him to 
this House. If he could have succeeded in his 
purpose, he would doubtless have made Karxsas 
his future residence. 

Now, let us see how it is with Mr. Reeder. 
Did he go to remain in that Territory.^—because, 
mark you, it is the intention with which he \yent 
which constitutes his claim to citizenship and 
establishes his right to be returned to this body. 
If he went there to remain under any and all cir¬ 
cumstances, how does it happen that his family 
still remained at hisjiome in Pennsylvania? 
How does it happen that his domicile never was 
changed?—that his property remained in Penn¬ 
sylvania?—that his family remained there?—that 
all the ties which bound him to existence were 
connected with that particular spot ? Yet the fact 
is so, that he went to Kansas in the discharge of 
his governmental agency, and not as a settler; 
and, when that governmental agency was termin¬ 
ated—when the election of the 9th of August, 
under which he claims to have been returned 
to this House, was over—he returned to his home 
and his family in Pennsylvania, and there he has 
remained from that day to this. Now, I say that, 
under these circumstances, the inference is irre¬ 
sistible that he never went to that Territory to 
remain, unless on the contingency that he could 
hold his executive office, and could consummate 
the land-speculating schemes which he meditated, 
but which subsequent interference by Government 
officers thwarted. 

Well, now, let us look at another point in con¬ 
nection with this matter. These gentlemen claim 
that they have the right to go behind the certifi¬ 
cate of Mr. VvT'hitfield—to look into all the facts 
connected with the election under which lie claims 
to come here; and not only so, but to go still 
further, and to look at the law, and the authorities 
by which that law was passed, under which the 
election was held. And they tell us very gravely, 
sir—and with a great deal of self-satisfaction— 

I that anybody who is opposed to their view of the 
I case is opposed to and is seeking to stifle inves- 
[ tigation, is striving to conceal the facts, and that 
j he does not desire to have them exposed to the 
public view ! 

1 Now, sir, I desire an investigation, and I will 











tell gentlemen how I propose to have that inves¬ 
tigation made. Mr. Reeder comes here contesting 
the seat of Mr. Whitfield, and is called upon to 
say why he is not prepared with lists of illegal 
votes, with the specific ground of objection to the 
illegality of each vote, and why he is not prepared 
with testimony to establish his allegations. His 
reply is, that he has had no opportunity of being 
prepared, because of the course of the Secre¬ 
tary of the Territory, and because of the fact that 
thei'e were no officers there who could swear 
the witnesses and take the testimony. This is a 
matter between Whitfield and Reeder. This is 
a controversy between them, and them alone. 
How, what I propose is this, that as it is a matter 
which concerns them personally—the one the 
sitting and the other the contesting momber—this 
House, instead of appointing a committee who 
have no interest in this matter, and whose action 
will have no other effect except to make misfhief 
and to create disturbance throughout the land, 
send Whitfield and Reeder back there armed with 
■proper authority, so that they can take testimony 
•and report i,t to this body. Sir, is it not much 
more proper that they should go ? They have 
both been there, and are acquainted with all the 
facts connected with this controversy. Mr. 
Reeder knows the grounds on which he relies to 
oust Whitfield, and will therefore know where 
to go in his search for testimony; and, on the 
other hand, Mr. Whitfield will know where to go 
for testimony to enable him to resist the preten¬ 
sions of Mr. Reeder. But gentlemen olqect to 
this, on the ground thpt it will be calculated to 
create excitement. Now, sir, it strikes me that 
there is much less likelihood of disturbance and 
excitement under the arrangement which I pro¬ 
pose. Suppose you send this election or any 
other committee out there, or suppose you arm 
them with the power to send there and summon 
parties to appear before them here, do you not 
thereby give to this contest a much greater degree 
of consequence and importance Do you not 
rouse up a storm of excitement far greater than 
would attach to it if these parties, who are alone 
concerned, shall be charged, with the duty of 
prosecuting the investigation.^ So it strikes me, 
sir. 

But, again: they propose to go back and look 
into the election, as 1 understand it, of those who 
were returned to the Legislative Assembly in 
March, 185.5. Under the election laws, Mr. 
Reeder was compelled to give notice to General 
Whitfield that he meant'to contest his seat, and 
to assign the grounds on which he intended to 
rely in prosecuting that contest before this House. 
If, sir, you are now going into an inquiry in rela¬ 
tion to the members who constitute the Legisla¬ 
ture of Kansas—(or, rather, who didconstitute it, 
for they are now no longer in office)—if you pro¬ 
pose to investigate, the manner by which they got 
there, to ascertain who voted for them—whether 
they were parties to a fraud to stifle public senti¬ 
ment—you must, at lea.S't, give them notice, and 
allow them an opportunity to be heard in defense 
of their conduct and their characters, as dear to 
them as Reeder’s character can possibly be to 
him. « 

Does this Hous'e contemplate-anything of this 
sort? Is it contemplated even by the Committee 
of Elections to do any tiling of this kind ? Not at 


all. They propose to go there to inquire into the 
election of members of that Territorial Legisla¬ 
ture, tiharged, as they have been in advance, with 
all sorts of fraud and misconduct by the chairman 
jand other members of this committee. They do 
! not intend or expect that the members of that 
' Legislature shall be allowed to produce testimony, 
or be heard in‘their defense. 

j Well, sir, look at this matter in another point 
I of view. Suppose you give the power to the 
i committee which they now ask for, and they send 
I to Kansas for witnesses, and make the investi- 
jgation which they propose, and after they have 
I taken that testimony, this House should come 
; to the conclusion that the members of tliat Legis¬ 
lature vrei-c improperly returned, what would it 
I amount to? Could tlmt fiict affect the validity 
lof the election of General Whitfield ? Not at all. 
|He was not elected at the same time at which the 
'members of the Legislature were elected. The 
[Legislature was elected, I think, in the month of 
i March, 1855, and General Whitfield was elected 
[in the month of October following. Suppose, 

I then, that you can show that the members of the 
i Legislature elected in March were illegally elected, 
do you then seek to draw the inference there- 
j from that because the persons purporting to have 
been elected to the Legislature m March, were 
! improperly elected, that therefore the Delegate to 
' Congress elected seven months after that time 
I was also improperly elected. The inference 
1 would be a nronstrous one. But yet it seems to 
! be the inference which some gentlemen here have 
[ determined to draw, to the prejudice of the sitting 
Delegate. 

It strikes me, thaX if gentlemen will look at this 
question in the point of view in which I have 
presented it, they must see that nothing useful 
or valuable can be accomplished by the course of 
action that is proposed. I'/ws House cannot repeal 
the law of Kansas. It requires the concurrence 
of both branches of the national Legislature and 
the approval of the Executive to give vitality to a 
1 law; and one bi-anch of tlie national Legislature 
j ccrtainl]^ cannot repeal what it has required both 
1 to pass. You cannot, then, accomplish anything 
! whatever, so far as these laws are concerned, by 
i the course of action you propose. You can, if 
! you set yourselves about it, inflame sectional 
prejudices and rouse up popvdar passion, and 
I thus continue and increase the strife and excite- 
I ment which already exists in that Territory, and 
throughout'the country, upon tliis slavery ques- 
^ tion. You cannot reasonably expect any other 
result. 

A Member. They do not want to accomplish 
any other result. 

Mr. LETCHER. I think it very probable 
that no other result is desired by many on the 
other side of the House; and I think so for this 
reason: I have not seen a solitary gentleman on 
the other side of the House here, who has argued 
this question, wlia has not taken the ground most 
i unqualifiedly that ho had nothing to do with Gov- 
j ernor Reeder—that it was no matter what Gov- 
! ernor Reeder’s position now was, or what had 
been his official conduct. They had nothing to 
! say upon that subject—nothing to do with his 
official conduct in granting certificates to mem¬ 
bers of the Legislature or to Whitfield. 

Now, it strikes me that, with Governor Reeder 














6 


here, with the majority ofthe House synipathiz-ing 'j 
in all his feelings, and anxio-us to secure a place for ;: 
him on this floor, it is somewhat extraordinary I 
that, of all the members comprising the majority 
here, there should not be one to say a kind word ; 
for Governor Reeder—to offer something in the ; 
■way of excuse or of justification for his official 
action; but not one word in the way of commend¬ 
ation of his conduct has been spoken, so far as 
I now recollect. Gentlemen do not declare that; 
they approve his course; they are silent upon ' 
that interesting subject. j 

Now, in my view, the whole history of the 
matter, so far as Governor Reeder is concerned, | 
is just this: When Governor Reeder went to that 
Territory, he went with large expectations as to ' 
his future worldly jirospects. He designer] to , 
avail himself of his official position to acquire | 
influence, power, wealth, and reputation in the | 
new Territory, to the governorship of which he i 
had been appointed; and when he failed to se¬ 
cure those objects—when he was deprived of his 
official position—when he was dismissed as; 
Governor of the Territory by the President—then,' 
for the first time, he began to look around for the 
new associations with which he has since been ; 
connected. Then it was, for the purpose of im -1 
proving his forlorn condition, that he determined | 
to join the political party with Avhich he is now . 
so intimately associated. He thought he saw in 
the political complexion of this House of Repre- | 
sentatives a chance, at least, to obtain position 'j 
here, and he laid his plans accordingly. It was | 
at that time that he began to feel so greatly con¬ 
cerned for the condition of the outraged and in- i 
jured people of Kansas ! Gentlemen say now i 
that they care nothing about Governor Reeder; j 
but it is in behalf of the people of the Territory : 
that they propose to act^that it is their interest ■ 
they seek to secure— their rights they desire, to 
protect and uphold. Now, it seems to me that 
if the rights of the people of Kansas are in such 
imminent danger—if the people are so much em¬ 
barrassed and environed with such pressing diffi¬ 
culties as require us to take imm’ediate action for 
their relief,—I say, if all this be true, it seems a 
little remarkable that no petition, no memorial 
from that Territory, setting forth the facts, has 
been presented to this House, asking our inter¬ 
position to protect them in the enjoyment of j 
their rights, and to relieve them from the injustice ■ 
and the oppression which Reeder and his friends 
allege they have suftereil from the citizens of ; 
Missouri. 

Governor Reeder comes here and claims to be ji 
a contestant for the seat occupied by General 
Whitfield upon this floor. Where is his certifi- 1| 
cate of election; and by whom is it signed? | 
Where is the law under which the election of 
the 9th of August was held ? By what legal au¬ 
thority, or with wdiat legal right, does he present ! 
himself before this House, ajid ask us to consider ^ 
his claim as a-contestant for tli<i seat now held by i 
Whitfield? ! 

And not only that, but take the question in j 
another point of view. While Governor Reeder 
is here claiming a seat, the free-State party in | 
the Territory of Kansas have actually commis¬ 
sioned another inan, who is now in this city, as I j 
understand, as the peculiar Representative of the ;i 
Frec-Soil views—as the individualin whom they J 


especially confide to carry out their plans, and to 
maintain and defend tlrnir princi)iles. 

Mr. Delahay, as I understand, is here claim¬ 
ing to have been elected by the voters of the State 
of Kansas, under and by authority of the State 
government, which is said to have gone into 
operation within a few days. Now, which is the 
Simon Pure —Air. Delahay or Governor Reeder? 
Both of them come here professing to represent 
the people of Kansas; and how', when all laws 
ai’e set aside, and Delegates are elected without 
Um, are gentlemen to decide between them ? What 
right have they to assume that Governor Reeder 
is the man who is entitled to the privilege of a 
seat here, and that Mr. Delahay is not entitled to 
that privilege? 

Here is a conflict between these tw'o persons. 
They both claim to represent the Free-Soil party 
—one claiming to represent the State of Kansas, 
and the other claiming to represent the Territory 
of Kansas; and how are you to decide between 
them ? What right have you to assume that 
Reeder is the peculiar guardian of the people of 
Kansas ? What right have you to a^ume that he 
is the man, of all men, to whom the representa¬ 
tion of the interests of that people have been in¬ 
trusted? Is there stronger reason to believe that 
he is entitled to the position than Delahay ? If 
so, state the reason. 

I should like to know why Reeder is given the 
preference, when his friends on this floor are the 
peculiar friends of the State government which is 
said to b^^ in operation in Kansas, and of which 
Delahay claims to be the Representative ? Why 
should they give the preference to the Territorial 
Delegate over the so-called State member? I 
should like to hear the reasons relied upon by 
these gentlemen to justify this preference. As 
things stand now, this seems to beasort of trian¬ 
gular war between Whitfield, Reeder, and Dela¬ 
hay. The Committee of Elections say they must 
have power to send for persons and papers before 
they can decide. They must see the documents 
and hear the testimony of witnesses, before they 
can relieve the House from the difficulty. They 
will not relieve the question from its embarrass¬ 
ment by first inquiring whether Reeder has a 
right to be'hcre. If he is disposed of, the case 
is relieved to that extent. But this they refuse to 
do; they will take no step that is calculated to 
simplifj'' the matter. On the contrary, the)'’ labor 
to add to the embarrassment which nowssur- 
rounds it. They seek to cloud it by a thick mist 
and fog, and under that mist and fog they hope 
to escape public condemnation. They desire to 
keep up the agitation, in the confident expectation 
that it will maintain that power and influence in 
the Nnrth which has returned the pr -sent domi¬ 
nant majority to this House. Instead of promptly 
dismissing from their consideration the preten¬ 
sions of a man Avho does not even claim to have 
been elected under any law lohalsoever, they con¬ 
sider it proper to countenance his cause. 

I have a word or tw«o in conclusion to say to 
the^gcntleman from New York, [Mr. Wakemax,] 
who addressed the Flouse on yesterday evening. 
He addressed an earnest appeal to the Americans 
in this House to come up and help him to resist 
this broken-down Administrarion, as he termed 
it, in its efforts to keep Whitfield in his seat. 

I AY DICE. No; to investigate the facts of the case- 












7 


Mr. LETCHER. No, sir; gentlemen under* 
take lo state what the facts are before an investi¬ 
gation has Ix^en had. The gentleman charged j 
emphatically that the President was using all his 
influence to keep Whitfield in his scat. How he j" 
got to that conclusion I do not know. I have I 
seen no evidence of interference in behalf of 
Whitfield by the President. 

There is not just exactly as muMi magnanimity | 
in the State of New York—if we judge from the 
gentleman’s course on this occasion—as there 
would be south of Mason and Dixon’s line in a 
similar case. If the Administration were Lroken 
down—if it were prostrate, would a gallant and 
magnanimous opponent attempt to trample upon 
it? No, sir; it is not prostrate; it is not broken 
down. The news from New Hampshire shoAVS j 
that it is on rising ground, even in the Granite; 
State. The*returns of the late election have cx-j 
cited the gentleman’s fears, and have induced this | 
earnest appeal to the opponents of the Adminis-j 
tration to come to the rescue. It will not be favor¬ 
ably responded to by those to whom it was ad¬ 
dressed, or I am greatly mistaken. 

Mr. WAKEMAN. I would inquire if Presi¬ 
dent Pierce cannot carry the State of New Hamp¬ 
shire, what State he can carry ? 

Mr. LETCHER. I think he can carry the 
State of Virginia, if he is again a candidate. 
[Great laughter.] I think, sir, he can carry tlie 
State of New Hampshire. If the Democracy 
continue to exert themselves—if they are true to 
themselves, and true to their principles—if the 
same spirit that has animated them for twelve 
months past shall continde to animate them, even 
in the northern States, the Black Republican pony 
will be distanced in the next presidential race. 
[Laughter.] A gain of seven thousand votes in 
New Hampshire in one year will do pretty well; 
and if that thinggoes on, it will not be long before 
the State is redeemed and restored to her former 
position in the Democratic line. 

And let me say another thing to the gentleman. 

I think it is not impossible that he Avill have to 
vote for or agtainst General Pierce for President at 
the next election. And let me say to him, that 
if the President shall continue to maintain and 
insist upon th'e faithful observance of the consti¬ 
tutional obligations of all sections of the Union— 
if he shall be as faithful and as true as he has 
heretofore been to the rights of the States and 
the union of theStates—if he shall, in the language 
of his own sentiment, know “no North, no South, j 
no East, no West,” the national Democrats of | 
the country, no matter in Avhat part of the Union 
they reside, will cheerfully support him if nom¬ 
inated as the candidate. 

Mr. WAKEMAN. That is with the Cincin¬ 
nati convention. j 

Mr. LETCHER. You have no right to speak 
for the Cincinnati convention. You are not of! 
us. You do not belong to our party. All you | 
have to do is t/o remain quiet, and the Demo- i 
cratic party Avill be apt to do for you in the future I 
what it has done for you so often before—thrash | 
you soundly at the polls in November next. 
[Great laughter.] 


Let me take the converse of this proposition. 
Suppose the party to which the gentleman belongs 
should get the ascendency^ Suppose they suc¬ 
ceed in securing the executive authority of this 
country and both branches of tlie national Legis¬ 
lature, so that all will work in harmony, how 
long does the gentleman suppose, under such an 
Administration, recognizing the principles they 
profess, and adopting the measures they approve, 
the Union of these States would endure? 

Mr. WAKEMAN. All the time. 

Mr. LETCHER. All the time! Then I 
should be sorry to entertain the opinion of you 
that you must entertain of us. I should be sorry 
to believe that even you of the North, were the 
power of this Government wielded to the de¬ 
struction of your rig'llts, and in such a way as to 
deprive you of your property, would tamely sub¬ 
mit without resistance, and without a murmur. 
So far as the South are concerned, sir, I tell you 
now what I have no doubt will be the fact—what 
1 believe firmly and conscientiously, that, if you 
should have power here, and undertake to pass 
measures to carry out the principles which you 
profess, you would find that we had spirit enough 
to separate from you, and make the effort, at 
least, to take care of ourselves. 

* A Voice. What measures ? 

Mr. LETCHER. If you undertake to repeal 
the fugitive-slave law, and deprive us of the means 
of recovci'ing our property when it is stolen from 
us, that is one of the measures to which I allude; 
and I believe that the chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee is for the repeal of that law. If you 
undertake to abolish slavery in the District of 
Columbia and prohibit it in the Territories of the 
United States by congressional legislation, and if 
you undertake to declare the sites of the various 
forts, arsenals, and dock-yards of the South free 
territory—and I take it that the chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee is also in favor of all these— 
you will find that the South, if it has a particle of 
self-respect—and 1 knoAV that h has—will be pre¬ 
pared to resist an^, and all, such measures. 

But, sir, I hope that things wi>lhnever come to 
this issue; that the cloud now hanging over us 
will pass away, and peace be restored to our 
country. 

The days of this party, sir, are numbered. I 
think that I can see the handwriting upon the 
wall, and I believe that numbers of gentlemen on 
the other side have seen it, and fully understand 
it. When the proposition was made by me early 
in the session, that members should resign, and 
go home, I heard more than one gentleman on 
that side of the House say, that it would not do, 
because a very large number of them would never 
get back again. [Laughter.] I regarded that as 
a promising sign—a very^tromising sign ^r the 
future; and I think the indications since make 
assurance doubly sure, that those who rule this 
Blouse now will rule it but a little longer—that 
after this Congress is over their race will be run. 
I advise them to say their prayers in anticipation 
of the political death which awaits them, and thus 
prepare for the dread reality. [Laughter.] 






























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